I tried to go for a short stroll the other day and it was painful! I am tired of feeling "cooped up" in the house. I can't drive yet because of pain meds... trying to wean myself of those also. I feel like my routine is just hanging out doing nothing and even the baby is getting bored. My DH went straight back to work. So its just us here all day alone! I feel like the narco pain med. makes me sleepy, so whenever I get inspired to read a good book, or start a little household project then I start to fall asleep. I know this sounds whiney, but I am hoping you may suggestions / advice? I think laying around all day is sort of unhealthy!
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Re: what was or is your routine at 2 wks. post c-section?
exactly this. i let myself heal and survived the newborn days. that was about as productive as i got. i also became an expert at what was on TV at various times of the day. i had plenty of time once i was recovered to go out and about with LO.
For me it was closer to 2.5-3 weeks before I felt mostly good all the time. Getting off of the narcotic pain meds made a big difference in my energy level. I stayed on the ibuprofen for a while longer.
Ad pp have said, just caring for yourself and baby is a lot of work! Give it another week or two before you get too concerned about doing more.
This I listened to my doctor who told me not to do a thing but care for my DD and rest, relax and take care of myself for four weeks. After that I was told I could slowly increase my activity. I would have hated to do anything that would have potentially harmed my healing process or popped a stitch or anything like that.
This except DH goes to work at 4am so I did not get up and shower before he went to work.
Laying around is unhealthy. However, at two weeks I was super tired - up every two hours around the clock to BF.
At one week, I went out and walked around. My Mom was here visiting and we went to a Christmas festival. I had ds in the Moby and we just walked and checked things out. I took it easy and it was fine.
Can you pop baby in the stroller and just go around your neighborhood? And cut your pain med in half maybe? I only had Advil and by one week out I think I took 400mg once a day, before activity, and it helped.
DS born via unplanned C-section at 40w6d
The first week or two I just did laps around the house and increased by 1 lap each time I tried. Primarily, I nursed DS, tried to nap when he did and watched tv when I couldn't sleep. I think I put something frozen in the oven on a good day, but DH did all of the laundry and "cleaned" if necessary. I went to the store a week out and was in a fair amount of pain for a day or so.
I think I was about 5 weeks before I could get around the grocery store at a normal pace and complete the shopping trip. Before that, DH would go ahead of me and grab things from the back of the store because I was walking so slowly that I couldn't keep up with him.
I found that if I dialled it back a bit from what I thought I could handle, I would do just fine. I was far more ambitious than my body would permit for at least a month. (Heck, 9 months out I still get sore if I overdo things...like 6 or 7 hour walks at the zoo)
I know how you feel. I felt like all I did was sleep, hold LO, and feed LO. Taking it easy is honestly the best thing you can do right now. Your body is still healing from major surgery and you will heal quicker if you take it easy on yourself. If you feel cooped up, open the windows and doors or sit outside. Walking is good for you as well, just push past the pain. Laying around at two weeks PP is hardly unhealthy. It gets better! Don't worry!
All of this. And what another pp said about "survival"... We moved from NY to Louisiana when DS was 3mo so when I got a spurt of energy I would clean or organize something, but that wasn't until closer to the move. For me just sitting out on the porch or going to Target with DH for a short outing was "getting out" for me. We would walk around the block in the evening after dinner and the evening feeding but it was slow and nothing ambitious, lol!